Gayle blown off course

Jamaica batsman set to miss Caribbean T20

09/01/2013 04:29 PM

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STAR MAN: Chris Gayle

JAMAICA WILL not be able to call upon the big-hitting services of Chris Gayle unless the team suffers an injury. Left-hander Gayle is not playing for Jamaica in the ongoing Caribbean T20 because the selectors decided to omit him from the squad, after the batsman said he would be available only if his Big Bash League franchise, Sydney Thunder, did not make the knockouts of Australia's ongoing domestic T20 competition.

Thunder failed to make it past the league stage of the BBL but, according to the Caribbean T20 playing conditions, Gayle cannot be added to Jamaica's squad unless one of their players is injured.

Unlike Jamaica, defending Caribbean T20 champions Trinidad & Tobago will be boosted by the presence of Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine, who are also part of the Big Bash. Narine, who played for Sydney Sixers, had returned to play in the washed-out tournament opener against Jamaica on Sunday evening. Pollard, who represented Adelaide Strikers, is expected to join the squad on Tuesday.

Both players had worked out an arrangement with the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board and their Big Bash franchises to play in the Caribbean T20.